Willow Tree Day Nursery Biddulph

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and contented in this nursery. They build close relationships with staff who are warm and nurturing towards them. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Staff have arranged the play environments specifically to meet children's current and emerging needs. For example, babies have fun and enjoy bouncing on soft matting while they strengthen their legs, ready for crawling, while older babies strengthen their legs and the core of their bodies while standing to explore a range of farm animals. They giggle and smile when staff make the sounds of the animals. Older children learn how to respect and look after their toys. They are eager to help staff put away toys where they belong.

Children behave well. They respond well to staff's gentle reminders to use 'kind hands' and to use their good manners. Staff model positive behaviours with children and with each other. This helps children to know the behaviour that is expected of them. The pre-school children begin to understand their emotions and the emotions of others. They learn how to resolve minor disputes between themselves. Children gain the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to prepare them for the next stage of their learning and their eventual move on to school.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The nursery curriculum is well designed with clear intentions for children's learning that enable them to make consistent progress, building on what they already know and can do. Staff use information that is gained from parents, and their observations, to decide what children are ready to learn next. They use children's interests to engage them in play and include the learning that children need during their play interactions.
• Communication and language is generally supported well. Staff working with babies use lots of repetition of words during play to build on their understanding. Toddlers enjoy hearing a familiar story about a 'Tiger who came to Tea'. Staff further build on the children's understanding to create a play scene containing elements from the story. Children are excited to practise the process of making tea and collect the necessary ingredients. However, at times, staff ask closed questions that require only a limited response. This does not help children to think and respond in their own words with their ideas.
• Pre-school children are confident to speak with visitors. They use clear speech and are eager to share what they know. For example, they talk about different animals that live in cold lands, such as polar bears and penguins. They talk knowledgeably about what they can see happen to the ice when it begins to melt.
• Children who need additional support receive the specific help that they need to make positive progress from their starting points. For example, staff use additional programmes to support speech development, which has helped children to quickly catch up. Staff liaise effectively with outside agencies and parents to help children make the progress they are capable of.
• Independence is promoted very well in a range of areas. For example, at mealtimes, babies, toddlers and pre-school children drink from unlidded cups, learn to serve themselves and use appropriate cutlery with increasing skill. Children receive lots of praise for their efforts and achievements, which helps to raise their confidence in their abilities. That said, staff do not yet support all children to manage their personal care needs at the earliest that they are capable.
• Managers provide staff with the support, guidance and training they need to continue their professional development. Staff receive the mandatory training they need, such as for safeguarding and regular team discussions, which helps this knowledge to remain current.
• Parents are happy with the care that their children receive. They speak highly of the staff and say their children often speak of them at home. Parents are particularly pleased with the communication from the setting and say they value the information they receive about their child's care and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff further to develop their verbal interactions to enable children time to think and respond with their own ideas, practising their speaking skills
• increase the opportunities for children to be even more independent, particularly to manage their personal care at the earliest they are capable.